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There is a subgroup of patients with mandibular fractures who could safely and effectively be managed in an outpatient day-care unit. Suitability depends on medical, social, and operative factors, and identification of the correct criteria will govern management after that in the emergency department. Reduced use of beds would lead to less money being spent on emergency treatment, and increased capacity for elective surgery. The aims of this study were to identify a group of patients with mandibular fractures whose duration of operation and period of recovery would be suitable for treatment in the day-care unit, and to evaluate the potential financial benefits. Inpatients were assessed for day surgery using medical, social, and surgical criteria. Each patient’s suitability for discharge was assessed two, three, and five hours postoperatively. A financial feasibility study was made retrospectively on a larger sample of patients with mandibular fractures. The discharge criteria from the day-care unit were fully met by 26/40 patients at five hours postoperatively, mean (range) duration of operation was 145 (40–285) minutes, and mean (SD) Mandibular Injury Severity Score was 13 (3), range 7–20. When all the criteria were combined (n = 100), 12 of the patients were suitable for day care. With 24 bed-day savings/100 patients, potential earnings would increase to around £80 000/year at this hospital. In conclusion, we have identified a group of patients who were suitable for management of mandibular fractures in the day-care unit. Considerable cost savings are anticipated.

The use of synthetic materials to repair craniofacial defects is increasing today and will increase further in the future. Because of the complexity of the anatomy in the head and neck region, reconstruction and augmentation of this area pose a challenge to the surgeon. This review discusses key facts and applications of traditional reconstruction bone substitutes, also offering comparative information. It then describes the properties and clinical applications of bioactive-glass (B-G) and its variants in oral and maxillofacial surgery, and provides clinical findings. The discussion of each compound includes a description of its composition and structure, the advantages and shortcomings of the material, and its current uses in the field of osteoplastic and reconstructive surgery. With a better understanding of the available alloplastic implants, the surgeon can make a more informed decision as to which implant would be most suitable in a particular patient.

Improvement in appearance is an important motivation for orthodontic treatment and orthognathic surgery, and two possible underlying causes are objective physical abnormalities, or the patient's personality type that leads them to concentrate on their appearance and request unnecessary interventions. Questionnaires that measure personality traits were given to 30 women who required orthognathic operations, and a control group of 30 other women. Traits measured were: satisfaction with the appearance of the face, head, and body; tendency to compare their appearance with that of others; the extent to which they are aware of their appearance and how they thought they should look; sense of self identity; depression; anxiety; and self-esteem. The only difference between patients and controls was that patients were more dissatisfied with their facial appearance than the others. Orthognathic patients were psychologically normal except that they had more dissatisfaction with their facial appearance. As this was the only difference, it is likely that their desire for operation was caused by a genuine physical abnormality rather than a perceived exaggerated aesthetic problem. It seems, therefore, that any patient who seeks orthognathic treatment because they have a personality that causes them to dwell on their appearance (which may lead them to hold unrealistic expectations of intervention) are screened out of the process before they begin treatment.